“Well, hide in there,” he commanded. “The curtains will conceal you. If he and his man come back I’ll get them in this room––then I’ll press this button, see?”
He indicated a button and added: “That rings a buzzer; you can hear it from the alcove, and then slip out the front door.”
The girl paused but an instant, then fled to the place of shelter.
CHAPTER XXXII.
IN WHICH BLUFF IS TRUMPS.
Having disposed of the girl for the moment, Travers Gladwin decided it was time to call Michael Phelan to his assistance. There was no telling what this amazing crook might do now. He was too much for him. That a thief and impostor could possess such superhuman nerve had never occurred to his untutored mind. He was a perfect dub to have let the situation reach such a stage of complexity, though the one thought uppermost in his mind was to save Helen from public ridicule and contempt.
He had reasoned it out that just the uniform of Officer 666 would serve him almost as a magician’s wand. He had almost counted on the thief taking one craven look at his constabulary disguise and then leaping through the window––fleeing like a wolf in the night––he, Travers Gladwin, remaining a veritable hero of romance to sooth and console Helen and gently break the news to her that she had been the dupe of an unscrupulous criminal. Instead of which––he ground his teeth, went to the little panel door and shouted Phelan’s name.